An international team of researchers has confirmed that during the summer of 2022 the highest temperatures of the past 700 years were reached in Spain in a study published in the journal Atmospheric Research. The study, with the participation of the National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN-CSIC), reveals an increase of 2.1ºC in the average temperature and a situation of extreme drought, especially in the northeast of the country.
According to the research, the exceptional nature of the temperatures reached in the summer of 2022 was marked by the persistence of an atmospheric situation that caused extreme temperatures to be reached. According to the MNCN researcher and one of the authors of the study, Ernesto Tejedor, "added to this fact was the arrival in the Iberian Peninsula of extremely warm air masses coming from Africa more often and more persistent than usual ".
The researchers compared the 2022 temperature and precipitation data with all the data recorded by the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet). The analysis revealed a 3.3ºC increase in sea surface temperature; of 2.1ºC of the average temperature, and an increase of four days in terms of the duration of heat waves, which made the summer of 2022 the driest in the last 279 years.
Although, according to the research, the precipitation data during the summer of 2022 was similar to the usual during summer periods in the Mediterranean, the research concludes that the persistence of high temperatures during the three summer months caused an increase in evapotranspiration, which caused a situation of extreme drought, especially in the central area of the Iberian Peninsula and along the Mediterranean coast.
Tejedor states that "in the last twenty years, heat waves and episodes of drought in Spain have become more and more frequent". He clarifies that "although the summer of 2022 represents an extreme anomaly in the country's climate history, there has been a pattern of increasingly warmer summers since the beginning of the 21st century", a trend which, according to the researcher, "increases the probability that this anomaly will repeat itself every few years".
Researchers recall that the heat waves of the summer of 2003 already demonstrated Europe's vulnerability to rising temperatures, as they caused hundreds of deaths. For this reason, they warn of the need to take preventive political measures to mitigate the environmental, social and economic effects of the climate crisis. In addition, they point out that, faced with heat waves that tend to be more intense and persistent, new adaptation strategies will be needed to protect the population.
Scientists point out that the creation of climate shelters is essential. According to the study's conclusions, having plans to protect the population from extreme temperatures is "especially important in cities that host vulnerable populations". In these areas, the "urban heat islands" that are generated can have serious consequences for the most defenseless populations.
